Work Text:
[*Afairy- the name for a male fairy]
Once upon a time, there lived a king and queen who were very unhappy because they had no children. But at last a little son was born, and their sorrow was turned to joy.
All the bells in the land were rung to tell the glad tidings. The queen gave a naming ceremony feast so grand that the like of it had never been known. She invited all the fairies and afairies she could find in the kingdom—there were seven of them—to come to the naming ceremony as godfathers. She hoped that each would give the prince a good gift.
When the ceremony was over, the feast came. Before each of the fairies and afairies was placed a plate with a spoon, a knife, and a fork—all pure gold. But alas! As the afairies were about to seat themselves at the table, there came into the hall a very old afairy named Nightmare who had not been invited. He had left the kingdom fifty years before and had not been seen or heard of until this day.
The queen at once ordered that a plate should be brought for him, but she could not produce a gold one such as the others had. This made Nightmare angry, and he sat there muttering to himself. A young afairy, Halo, who sat nearby overheard his angry threats. This good godfather, fearing the old afairy might give the child an unlucky gift, hid himself behind a curtain. Halo did this because he wished to speak last and hoped to be able to change the older afairy’s gift.
At the end of the feast, the youngest fairy and the only female, Niki, stepped forward and said, “The prince shall be the most handsome man in the world.”
The second eldest, Antfrost said, “He shall not anger easily, remaining kind and patient.”
The third eldest, Fundy, said, “He shall be graceful and elegant in all he says and does.”
The fourth, Karl, said, “He shall be intelligent and think through his choices before acting.”
The fifth, Callahan, said, “He shall be blessed with nature’s love, the mushrooms and the flowers--and he shall remain humble.”
The sixth, Sapnap, said, “He shall be strong, sticking to what he believes in no matter what.”
Then Nightmare’s turn came. Shaking his head spitefully, he said, “When the prince is nineteen years old, he shall prick his finger with a spindle, and he shall die!”
At this all the guests trembled, and many of them began to weep. The king and queen wept loudest of all. Just then the wise young afairy came from behind the curtain and said: “Do not grieve, my King and Queen. Your son shall not die. I cannot undo what my elder brother has done; the prince shall indeed prick his finger with the spindle...but he shall not die. He shall fall into sleep that will last a hundred years. At the end of that time, his soulmate will find him and awaken him.” Immediately all the afairies vanished.
The queen, hoping to save her child even from this misfortune, commanded that all spindles should be burned. This was done, but it was all in vain.
One day when Prince George was nineteen years of age, the king and queen left him alone in the castle. He wandered about the palace and at last came to a little room at the top of a tower. There an old man—so old and deaf that he had never heard of the king’s command—sat spinning.
“What are you doing, good sir?” asked George.
“I am spinning, my young Prince.” The man, Phil, responded.
“Ah,” said George, “How do you do it? I’d like to see if I can spin, also.” He had just taken the spindle in his hand when, in some way, it pricked his finger.
The prince fell down on the floor, Phil called for help, and people came from all sides, but nothing could be done.
When Halo heard the news, he came quickly to the castle. He knew that the prince must sleep a hundred years and would be frightened if he found himself alone when he awoke. So the afairy touched with his magic wand all in the palace except the king and the queen.
Ladies, gentlemen, pages, waiting maids, footmen, grooms in the stable, and even the horses—he touched them all. They all went to sleep just where they were when the wand touched them. Some of the gentlemen were bowing to the ladies, the ladies were embroidering, the grooms stood brushing their horses, and the cook was slapping the kitchen boy. The king and queen departed from the castle, giving orders that no one was to go near it. This command, however, was not needed.
In a little while there grew around the castle a wood so thick that neither man nor beast could pass through. This was the work of Nightmare, of course, who wished that the Prince’s soulmate would never arrive.
A great many changes take place in a hundred years. The queen had no other child, and when she died, her throne passed to another royal family.
Even the story of the sleeping prince was almost forgotten--but the afairies of the land who loved the Mushroom Prince refused to let him fade into oblivion.
One day, Clay, the royal huntsman for the reigning king and queen, was out hunting, and he saw towers rising above a thick wood. He asked what they were, but no one could answer him. At last a young man named Wilbur was found who said, “Sir, twenty years ago my father told me that there is a castle in the woods where a prince sleeps—the most kind and handsome prince that ever lived. It was said that he must sleep there for a hundred years, and he would then be awoken by his soulmate. The branches are said to only let his soulmate pass.” At this the young man became determined to find out the truth for himself.
Clay leaped from his horse and began to force his way through the wood. To his astonishment, the stiff branches gave way, and then closed again, allowing none of his companions to follow. Still, he was not sure he believed the story Wilbur had told him about soulmates.
Soon enough, a beautiful palace rose before him. In the courtyard the huntsman saw horses and men and women who looked as if they were dead. But he was not afraid and boldly entered the palace. He had faced death before, he was not afraid to face it again.
There were guards motionless as stone, gentlemen and ladies, pages and footmen, some standing, some sitting, but all like statues. It was an eerie sight, but Clay did not let it shake him up too badly.
At last the man came to a chamber of gold, where he saw upon a bed the fairest sight one could ever lay eyes on--prince of about nineteen years who looked as if he had just fallen asleep. Mushrooms of every color and variety were growing gently around the sleeping prince--purple, blue, red, brown, white, yellow, orange, pink--it was a rainbow of colors in fascinating shapes that seemed to almost be trying to protect the prince.
Nervous and a little apprehensive, Clay knelt beside him, and leaned in to kiss the fair prince.
To his amazement, a soft hum sounded through the chamber, and the prince’s eyes fluttered open, revealing one eye that was shining like honey and gold, and the other as clear and blue as the most beautiful sea.
The enchantment was broken, and the Mushroom Prince looked up at Clay with a soft smile. “Is it you, my love? I have waited for so long.”
“It is me, I suppose, my Prince.” Clay murmured gently, taking George’s hand and gently kissing his knuckles. “My name is Clay, I’m the royal huntsman for the neighboring kingdom.”
“You are even more handsome than I dreamt, Clay.” George blushed a little as he spoke, and a coy grin tugged onto the huntsman’s face.
“And you’ve had a very long time to dream, haven’t you?” George giggled warmly at his words, and immediately Clay fell in love with the sound.
The two young lovers were so joyful and entranced with each other that they talked hour after hour. In the meantime the other sleeping residents of the palace awaked and each began to do what they had been doing when they fell asleep. The gentlemen went on bowing to the ladies. The ladies went on with their embroidery. The grooms went on brushing their horses, the cook went on slapping the kitchen boy, and the servants began to serve the supper. Then the chief valet, Tommy, who was ready to die of hunger, told the prince aloud that supper was ready. The prince gave the huntsman his hand, and they all went into the great hall for supper.
As the true heir to the kingdom, Prince George decided that it didn’t matter that Clay was not of royal blood, nor that he was not a princess as his parents likely expected. George loved his huntsman, and Clay loved his Prince, and in the following weeks the prince and huntsman were married. George’s kingdom and the kingdom Clay had originated from were joined together by this marriage and they lived happily ever after.